1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to wind shelters, and in particular to a semi-subterranean wind shelter attached to a concrete slab.
2. Background of the Invention
Mobile, or pre-manufactured, homes are one of the building designs most susceptible to wind damage. The multitude of damaged and destroyed mobile homes left in the wake of the recent hurricane Andrew in Florida, as well as the numerous tornado mobile home casualties all across the rest of the country, bear mute testimony to this fact.
The safety problems for humans associated with mobile home susceptibility to wind damage are exacerbated by the lack of a cellar. Most mobile homes do not have an underground cellar which could serve as refuge for the occupants. The idea behind seeking shelter from high winds in subterranean shelters is the wind will tend to blow over the shelter, and the occupants will thus be better protected from harm. In the Midwest it is common practice to build cellars into houses, and use same as storm shelters in the presence of high winds, such as occur with tornadoes. Mobile homes, on the other hand, are generally towed into position and tied down, and no cellar is built.
One solution to the high-wind safety hazard associated with mobile homes is to install a storm cellar for the mobile home occupants to go to when threatened by hurricanes or tornadoes. One complicating factor in installing such storm cellars is lack of physical lot space within which to make the installation. Many mobile home parks provide a relatively small lot for each mobile home. Thus it would be desirable to provide a wind shelter installable within the existing footprint of a mobile home.
Existing Designs
A number of designs have been suggested for wind shelters. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,539,780, 4,955,166 and 5,048,244 were granted Rice, Qualline et al. and Barbier respectively for subterranean shelters. While these designs provided an underground refuge, they were complex, and hence expensive to build and install. In addition, they required installation space separate from existing structures, and thus required additional space which might not be available in many mobile home parks.
Thornton was granted U.S. Pat. No. 4,615,158 for a mobile home tornado shelter for installation outside an existing mobile home. This design required installation space separate from existing structures, and thus demanded additional space which might not be available in many mobile home parks. In addition, no provision was made to anchor the shelter to a solid existing structure such as a cement slab.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,481,837 was granted Minks, Jr. for a storm shelter for use with a mobile home. This patent disclosed a storm shelter which could be integrated into a mobile home porch, and thus provided the possibility that the shelter could be built within the existing mobile home footprint, at least in those mobile homes which had a porch. The '837 design also taught a floor which could be mechanically anchored to soil in which the shelter was installed, by means of a perimetral lip around the floor. While this design provided some anchoring, the anchoring was not as effective as if the shelter had been anchored to a solid structure, such as a concrete slab. In addition, this design was not pre-fabricated. Consequently, the '837 shelter had to be assembled on site, thus increasing installation costs. Finally, no method to prevent earth cave-in at the excavation site during the installation process was taught.